Week 2, and
you can see the progress. Three coats of shellac are being applied to
all the areas to be gilded. We started at the top, you can see that the
lower levels have only one or two coats so far. After the shellac, we
will apply the size, which is what the gold leaves will stick to. The
shellac will seal the statue and prevent the size from being absorbed.
The size is clear, we will mix it with red oil paint and let it dry overnight
to a nice "tack". We can only apply size to as much area as
we can cover with leaf the next day.